Clove, the Girl with the Knives
by dancer031
Summary: You don't expect love between the ruthless, you don't expect weakness from the strong. Sometimes, people change. It may be for better, and it may be for worse. It just depends on how you look at it.
1. Chapter 1: Unnatural Feelings

**Disclaimer: Everything belongs to Suzanne Collins.**

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Clove shook her head and rolled her eyes, irritated beyond belief. "You're unbelievable, Cato! I honestly can't believe that you think that!" She turned around and grabbed her cutlet knife then stormed out of the Academy, trying to get away from Cato and his wrongness.  
Clove had been practicing her knife throwing, like she always did at the Academy, when Cato came over. She didn't mind when he came over to see her, she actually kind of enjoyed his company. He was the only person that she could actually stand anyway.  
Cato had come over to tell her that she was throwing her knives wrong. Clove highly disagreed with him. After all, she never missed. She never had. Not to mention she was a pro at knife throwing. Even when she was seven and threw her first knife trying to decide which weapon she should master, she hit the center of the target. It wasn't the dead center, but it still would've killed whoever was in her way.  
She let out an irritated sigh, almost like a yell, as she continued to storm out the main doors of the Academy. She was done training for today. If she wasn't done, someone would probably get hurt, and it wouldn't be a trainer.  
Clove gasped as someone grabbed her arm and spun her around. She instantly swung her knife, but the person dodged it then chuckled. She glared and pushed away from the person, knowing exactly who it was. "What do you want Cato?" She spat at him, the acid tone thick in her words.  
"Can we talk Clover?" Cato asked. He seemed to be genuine in the question, which made her skeptical to hear the question.  
Clove rolled her eyes and sighed slightly. She could never hate him, despite the way he acted towards her. "I suppose. You have three minutes."  
Cato shook his head. "It'll take longer than three minutes, and we can't talk here. Follow me." He grabbed her by the arm and started pulling her.  
Clove sighed out of irritation and yanked her arm away. "I can walk on my own. Thank you very much," she said rudely.  
Cato shrugged and continued to walk. "Whatever you say Clover."  
Clove glared at him then tucked her knife into her boot before she started to follow behind him.  
'Clover' was a nickname that Cato had given Clove when they were first starting to train. Clove remembered it like it was yesterday..

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Clove was looking at all of the knives at the knife throwing station, trying to decide which knife would be the best for her to use. She was only eight at the time and Cato was nine. Cato had come up to her and took the knife she was looking at out of her hands.  
"Hey!" Clove yelled, "That's my knife!"  
Cato laughed and handed it back to her. "I know it is. I like doing that to people." He smiled widely then held his hand out. "I'm Cato."  
Clove glared at him and turned back to her knives, trying to ignore him. Cato cleared his throat then took her knife away from her again when she didn't acknowledge him.  
"Hey!" Clove yelled again.  
Cato held the knife in the air, knowing she couldn't reach it since he was taller than her. "I said, I'm Cato."  
Clove glared at him again as she reached for her knife. "Clove," she mumbled softly as she jumped up and took her knife.  
Cato smiled a little. "I hear you're pretty good, Clover. We're going to be good partners."  
Clove sighed and glared over at him. "I said Clove. Not Clover, And I'm not going to be partners with you. I never would be."  
Cato shrugged a little. "Doesn't matter. I'm calling you Clover. And we will be partners. We're both great so we will be. Okay? Okay." He nodded once then walked away to go practice his sword fighting.  
Clove watched Cato train the rest of that day. At first she hated the idea of being partners with Cato, but as she watched him train and fight she realized that he would be a good partner to have.

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Clove shook her head a little and came back to reality. She looked around and noticed that they had walked into the forest.  
District 2 had a very small, dense forest that very few people went into. Everyone hated going into the forest because they didn't know the creatures in there. Cato and Clove didn't mind. They knew that they could take on any creature that was in there, and it was good practice for the games.  
"Where are you taking me Cato?" Clove asked, starting to get irritated.  
Cato shushed her and kept walking. "You'll find out soon enough."  
Clove sighed deeply and shook her head a little. "No. I want to know now."  
Cato shook his head then turned around. "I said you'll find out soon enough. Just shut up and keep walking." He turned back around and started walking again.  
Clove glared at him and tensed her hands into fists. He irritated her so much sometimes, it was unbelievable.  
Clove reached down and pulled her knife out of her boot. She looked straight at Cato and threw the knife. Cato, at the time, was walking past a tree. The knife hit the sleeve of his shirt and pinned him to the tree. He looked at the knife then glared at Clove. "What the hell!? You could've killed me!"  
Clove laughed sadistically as she walked over to him, her arms crossed over her chest. "It wasn't even close to hitting you. Stop being such a baby. If I wanted to kill you you'd be dead by now and you know it." She smirked then yanked the knife out of the tree and his shirt.  
Clove crossed her arms again and glared at him. "Alright. Now tell me what you need to tell me right now, otherwise I'm leaving."  
Cato sighed deeply and crossed his arms as well. "Fine," he mumbled.  
Cato looked down then looked back up at Clove, instantly forgetting about the knife incident that had just happened. "I wanted to do this a different way, but I guess now is better then nothing."  
Clove raised her eyebrow, confused about what he was talking about. "What do you mean?"  
Cato looked back down at the ground, suddenly calm and almost shy. "I...I like you Clove. I have since you were eight, when I told you we would be partners. We we're the best then, and we are now, but I wanted everyone to know that you were mine then and there. And I was taught that if I wanted something badly enough, I had to fight for it and get it. So I did. And I'm sorry if I ever hurt you or bothered you with my pigheadedness. I just didn't know how to act around you." He took a deep breath then let it out. "I know you probably don't feel the same way, but I just thought you should know in case one of us gets reaped in a few days." He slowly looked up at her, actually scared to see her reaction.  
Clove stared at him, not sure if she should stay or run away. She looked down at the knife in her hand then tucked the knife into her boot. It's not like she would need it, and she felt like he would feel a little better about the situation if she wasn't holding a deadly weapon in her hand.  
Clove looked back up at him and sighed softly. "Cato..." She trailed off not sure of what to say or how to say it. Now that she thought of it, she did like Cato. She always had, she just never admitted it to herself.  
Clove glanced down then back up at him. "I.." She trailed off again and shook her head. "We.." She sighed again then reached up on the tips of her toes, resting her hands on his firm chest. She closed her eyes and softly pressed her lips against his. After a few seconds, she pulled away slowly and opened up her eyes as she smiled up at him. "I...I like you too Cato."

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**I hope you liked it, and please make sure to review! I'm new at this, so any constructive criticism will be helpful. Thanks for reading!**


	2. Chapter 2: Undeserving Fate

Here it is! Chapter 2! Sorry that it took so long. Writing the second chapter is always the hardest for me to do. I don't know why, but it is. It also took a while because I wasn't sure if I wanted the Reapings to be in this chapter, but I didn't want it to get boring. So, here it is. Let me know what you think!

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Clove sat on the floor of the Academy, holding her favorite knife tightly in her hand. She was currently glaring over at a redheaded girl who was flirting up a storm with Cato, and Clove was trying her hardest not to attack the redhead.  
Even though Clove and Cato weren't together, and no one knew that they had a semi-relationship going on, he was hers. She wanted so desperately to throw her knife at the girl. She knew she would hit her square in the back too. After all, she never missed.  
Clove sighed out of irritation and stood up, facing the training dummies. She picked up two more knives off of the table then glared at the dummies. If only they were that stupid, redhead...  
Clove growled lowly under her breath and chucked her favorite knife, hitting it in the dead center of one of the dummies half way across the training center. She looked at another training dummy and threw one of the other knives. Clove then threw the last knife, sticking it into the dummy with a small thud at the force she threw it. Clove smirked to herself then walked over to get her own personal knife out of the training dummy.  
Clove yanked her knife out of the dummy then looked back over at Cato and the stupid redhead. She glared at both of them, then caught Cato's eyes. She tightened her glare a little and smirked ever so slightly before turning around and walking out of the Academy.  
As Clove walked out, she started to toss her knife in the air, catching it perfectly as it came down. She was going into the woods to calm down. Clove liked to chuck her knife into the trees when she was upset. It was the best way for her to channel her anger, and it was also a good way to practice hunting tributes.  
Clove continued to toss her knife in the air and catch it as she walked into the woods. She glanced around the small, dense woods then looked ahead. She kind of hoped that the arena this year would be in the woods. She knew her way around the woods easy enough, and more so than other people in the district.  
Clove looked at a tree about 30 feet ahead of her and chucked her knife as hard as she could, hearing it make a thud noise as it hit the tree. She looked down at the ground as she walked over to the tree. She then grabbed a hold of her knife and yanked it out of the tree.  
Clove whipped her head around as she heard a branch crack and threw her knife, not even thinking that it could be a person.  
"You bitch!"  
Clove laughed and turned to face the person. She shrugged a little as she crossed her arms, a smirk growing onto her face. "That's what you get for flirting with another girl, Cato!"  
Cato shook his head a little. "I didn't want to, but people can't know about us. They'll treat us differently if they knew."  
Clove sighed and rolled her eyes before walking over to him. She pulled her knife out of the tree that was beside him. She turned to face him, about to speak, then frowned deeply seeing his shirt ripped and blood starting to drip out of his arm. "Cato, I'm sorry that I hit you."  
Cato shrugged a little looking away from her. "It's fine."  
Clove shook her head a little and walked up to his arm, taking a closer look at it.  
The knife didn't actually hit him. He was smart enough to dodge the knife, but he wasn't quick enough. The knife had grazed his arm.  
Clove moved the shredded cloth a little more out of the way to inspect it and half smiled. "It's not even deep. You've had much worse cuts then this. This is nothing." She shook her head then shoved her knife into her boot, where it always went when she wasn't using it.  
Cato shrugged again then looked at her. "I'm sorry, Clover. I really am. I'm sorry that I made you mad by flirting with that girl."  
Clove crossed her arms, slightly looking at the ground. She wasn't used to Cato being all nice and forgiving, and it was a little weird.  
Clove shrugged a little and looked back up at him. "I wasn't really mad. I just... I just got.. jealous." She clenched her jaw and tightened her arms against her chest. She had only gotten jealous of another girl one time, and that was during a training drill.  
Cato chuckled then raised his eyebrow. "You!? Jealous!? I never would have guessed that you would get jealous," he said as he smirked.  
Clove rolled her eyes then shoved him lightly. "Oh shut up." She half smiled then looked at him,  
a mask of concern on her face. "The Reapings are tomorrow. Have you decided if you're going to volunteer this year?"  
Cato shrugged and looked at his arm before looking back at her. "I think so. I mean, I'm ready enough to. Why not?"  
Clove nodded a little then half smirked. "Well, make sure you win. I need to have my stubborn ass best friend come back home to me." She laughed very slightly then smiled at him.  
Cato nodded as a huge smirk grew onto his face. "You know I'll win. And when I come back, we'll be able to be together. Just the two of us." He nodded once.  
Clove smiled sincerely. "That'll be nice."

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"Next."  
Clove walked up to the check in booth and held her hand out, letting the Peacekeeper prick her finger. Clove rolled her eyes slightly at the kid next to her who was wincing at the pain. This pain was nothing. This wasn't even considered pain to Clove.  
Clove walked over to her age group and started pushing her way up to the front. Once she got to the front, she crossed her arms with a slight smirk on her face.  
Even though she wasn't planning on volunteering this year, everyone who trained at the Academy went to the front. If nothing else to seem intimidating.  
Clove looked back at Cato and smirked at him before looking forward as Angora Umbridge, the District Two escort, walked onto the stage.  
"Hello District Two!" Angora beamed. "Welcome to the 74th Annual Reaping for The Hunger Games! Please, pay attention to this magnificent movie brought all the way from the Capitol!"  
Clove looked up at the projection screen as the movie started to play. She rolled her eyes slightly then looked back at Angora as the movie ended.  
"Wasn't that just lovely?" She said, much too enthusiastically. As soon as the crowd showed no interest in what she was saying, Angora continued to speak. "Now, it's the time we've all been waiting for! First off, the female tribute."  
Angora walked over to the bowl with the girl names in it and reached her hand in, pulling one name out. She walked back over to the microphone, unfolded the piece of paper, and then spoke.  
"Clove Folly."  
Clove quickly looked up then smirked. That was her name. She was going into The Hunger Games because no one would volunteer for her. She knew it.  
She pushed her way to the aisle then walked up onto the stage, her head held high and the smirk still placed firmly on her face. She crossed her arms over her chest then glared out at the crowd, daring one of the other Careers to take her place.  
No one did.  
Angora smiled then looked at the crowd. "And now, for the male."  
She walked over to the males' bowl and pulled out a name. She walked over to the microphone and opened the sheet of paper.  
"Tyson Williams."  
Clove watched as a small, scared-looking thirteen year old boy came out into the aisle. Clove looked at Cato, who was obviously debating if he still wanted to volunteer this year. Cato looked at Clove and nodded once before jumping out of his age group. "I volunteer!" He shouted, his voice echoing throughout the entire town square.  
Tyson looked at Cato like he wanted to give him the biggest hug ever, then scurried back into his age group.  
Cato walked confidently onto the stage.  
Angora smiled at him and held the microphone out to him. "And you are..?"  
"Cato Deacon."  
Angora smiled brightly then looked out at the crowd once more. "Ladies and Gentlemen, I give you this year's tributes for District Two. Clove Folly and Cato Deacon!"  
Claps exploded all over the town square, mostly for Cato. No one really thought that Clove was ready to go into the games yet, and not many people liked her. She frightened most people.  
"Please, shake hands you two," Angora told Clove and Cato.  
Clove turned to face Cato and smirked a little. She noticed the worry and concern in his eyes, but she would be the only one to notice it. They shook hands then were led into the Justice Building and to two separate rooms.  
Clove walked in and sat down on the bright burgundy velvet couch. She looked up as the door opened and her parents came in.  
Clove stood up and walked over to them, slightly looking down. "I can win this. I know I can."  
"We know you can do this, Clove," her father said.  
Her mother sighed and rolled her eyes. "We know. Make us proud, and don't disappoint us."  
Clove nodded again then gave them both a small smile before a Peacekeeper came in and escorted them out.  
Clove sat back down on the couch and stared at the door. No one else was going to come and say goodbye. The only person who would was in another room, and Clove didn't have anyone else.

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Thank you for reading! Again, please review! The only way I'll get better as a writer is if people give me criticism. I greatly appreciate it! :)


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